Mengyu Chai

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Hydrogen on Fracture Toughness of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V Steel and Welds after Annealing

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a critical issue that hinders the reliability of hydrogenation reactors. Hence, it is of great significance to investigate the effect of hydrogen on fracture toughness of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V steel and weld. In this work, the fracture behavior of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V steel and welds was studied by three-point bending tests under hydrogen-free and hydrogen-charged conditions. The immersion charging method was employed to pre-charge hydrogen inside specimen and the fracture toughness of these joints was evaluated quantitatively. The microstructure and grain size of the specimens were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by metallurgical microscopy to investigate the HE mechanisms. It was found that fracture toughness for both the base metal (BM) and the weld zone (WZ) significantly decreased under hydrogen-charged conditions due to the coexistence of the hydrogen-enhanced decohesion (HEDE) and hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity (HELP) mechanisms. Moreover, the formation and growth of primary voids were observed in the BM, leading to a superior fracture toughness. In addition, the BM compared to the WZ shows superior resistance to HE because the finer grain size in the BM leads to a larger grain boundary area, thus distributing more of the diffusive hydrogen trapped in the grain boundary and reducing the hydrogen content.

Investigation of the Influence of Pre-Charged Hydrogen on Fracture Toughness of As-Received 2.25Cr1Mo0.25V Steel and Weld

Fracture failure caused by hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a major concern for the system reliability and safety of hydrogen storage vessels, which are generally made of 2.25Cr1Mo0.25V steel. Thus, study of the influence of pre-charged hydrogen on fracture toughness of as-received 2.25Cr1Mo0.25V steel and weld is of significant importance. In the current work, the influence of hydrogen on fracture toughness of as-received 2.25Cr1Mo0.25V steel and weld was systematically studied. Base metal (BM) and weld metal (WM) specimens under both hydrogen-free and hydrogen-charged conditions were tested using three-point bending tests. Hydrogen was pre-charged inside specimens by the immersion charging method. The J-integral values were calculated for quantitatively evaluating the fracture toughness. In order to investigate the HE mechanisms, optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the microstructure of BM and WM specimens. The results revealed that the presence of pre-charged hydrogen caused a significant decrease of the fracture toughness for both BM and WM specimens. Moreover, the pre-charged hydrogen led to a remarkable transition of fracture mode from ductile to brittle pattern in 2.25Cr1Mo0.25V steel.

Acoustic Emission from Elevator Wire Ropes During Tensile Testing

The acoustic emission (AE) technique was used to monitor the tensile testing process for two kinds of elevator wire ropes in our work. The AE signals from wire breaks were obtained and analyzed by AE parameters and waveforms. The results showed that AE technique can be a useful tool to monitor wire break phenomenon of wire ropes and effectively capture information of wire break signal. The relationship between AE signal characteristics and wire breaks is investigated and it is found that the most effective acoustic signal discriminators are amplitude and absolute energy. Moreover, the wire break signal of two kinds of ropes is a type of burst signal and it is believed that the waveform and spectrum can be applied to analyze the AE wire break signals.

Acoustic emission detection of 316L stainless steel welded joints during intergranular corrosion

This study analyzes acoustic emission (AE) signals during the intergranular corrosion (IGC) process of 316L stainless steel welded joints under different welding currents in boiling nitric acid. IGC generates several AE signals with high AE activity. The AE technique could hardly distinguish IGC in stainless steel welded joints with different welding heat inputs. However, AE signals can effectively distinguish IGC characteristics in different corrosion stages. The IGC resistance of a heat-affected zone is lower than that of a weld zone. The initiation and rapid corrosion stages can be distinguished using AE results and microstructural analysis. Moreover, energy count rate and amplitude are considered to be ideal parameters for characterizing different IGC processes. Two types of signals are detected in the rapid corrosion stage. It can be concluded that grain boundary corrosion and grain separation are the AE sources of type 1 and type 2, respectively.

Effect of Cementite on the Hydrogen Diffusion/Trap Characteristics of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V Steel with and without Annealing

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a critical issue that affects the reliability of hydrogenation reactors. The hydrogen diffusivity/trap characteristics of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V steel are important parameters mainly used to study the HE mechanism of steel alloys. In this work, the hydrogen diffusivity/trap characteristics of heat-treated (annealed) and untreated 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V steel were studied using an electrochemical permeation method. The microstructures of both 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V steels were investigated by metallurgical microscopy. The effect of cementite on the hydrogen diffusivity/trap mechanisms was studied using thermodynamics-based and Lennard–Jones potential theories. The results revealed that the cementite located at the grain boundaries and at the interfaces of lath ferrite served as a kind of hydrogen trap (i.e., an irreversible hydrogen trap). In addition, hydrogen was transported from ferrite to cementite via up-hill diffusion, thereby supporting the hypothesis of cementite acting as a hydrogen trap.

Comparative Study of Acoustic Emission Characteristics for Intergranular Corrosion of 316L Stainless Steel Parent Material and Weldment

The 316L stainless steel parent material and weldment specimens were made to carry out intergranular corrosion(IGC) test using the method of boiling nitric acid. During the corrosion experiment, the acoustic emission(AE) signals were collected. Through the comparative analysis of corrosion rate and metallographic structure, the results showed that the IGC of parent material and weldment can be divided into the preliminary corrosion stage and the rapid corrosion stage. The AE parameters and spectrum characteristics of the two corrosion stages of the parent material and weldment were analyzed. The results showed that: in preliminary and rapid corrosion stages, the AE signal amplitude and energy of weldment were higher than that of parent material; the spectrum characteristics of weldment was more abundant than that of parent material. Based on the results of the comparative analysis, the AE sources of parent material and weldment IGC and the possibilities of monitoring IGC using AE technique were analyzed.Copyright